Car-wheel guard.



W. F. WEST.

GAB. WHEEL GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED 1120.3, 1912.

1,09 1,409, Patented Mar. 24, 1914.

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WILLIAM F. WEST, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

CAR-WHEEL GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 1112x1324, 19114.

Application filed December 3, 1912. Serial N 0. 734,725.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. WEST, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented new and useful Improvements in Car-\Vheel Guards, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a car wheel guard which is adapted to be attached to the journal boxes at either end of a railroad truck, and includes a pair of guard members adapted to guard the adjacent extreme wheels of the truck, the primary object being to provide a device of this character which is constructed so as to be particularly efiicient in throwing persons or other objects from. the track toward either side when either one of the guard members comes into contact therewith.

A further object isto provide a device of the class described which is adapted to be attached to the journal boxes of any size or type of car truck, by the specially constructed attaching means provided for the occasion.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which, 1

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the railroad car having the guard attached thereto; Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof; and, Fig. 3 is a plan view of-the truck alone showing the guard attached.

In the drawing, the numeralil designates one of the pair of guard members which are included in each guard proper. Each guard member is adapted to be positioned in suitable proximity to one of the extreme wheels 2 of the car truck, and to be secured in this position by the means provided for adjusting the same to the adjacent journal boxes 3. This means comprises a pair oof vertically spaced attaching bars 4 and 5 respectively,

which are pivotally connected to the rear-- most edge of the guard member 1 and which are adapted to embrace the upper and lower faces of the said journal boxes, and the front and rear adjustable bolt members 6 and 7 respectively which extend through the alining pairs of slots 8 and 9 provided in the attaching bars 4 and 5, the said bolts being adapted to closely abut the front and rear faces of the journal boxes. The slots 8 and 9 are provided with a plurality of notches 10 in corresponding side edges thereof so as to aid inosecuring the bolt members in different horizontally adjusted positions as necessitated by the particular size and construction of the journal boxes to which the device is attached. The vertically disposed pivot pins 11 provided at the points of pivotalattachment between the front ends of the attaching bars and the rearwardly extending lugs 12 formed on the rearmost edges of the guard members serve to permit lateral swinging movement of each guard member when desired for a purpose described more fully hereinafter, these members being connected by the connecting member 13 which is interposed between each pair of guard members.

Each guard member is provided with a concave outer face 14, and has its lower portion flared outwardly as at 15 and terminates forwardly in a point 16 overlying the corresponding track rail. The outside port-ion of the guard member is in the form of a deflecting wing 17, which serves to throw the bodies struck by the guard member outwardly from the track, so as to prevent the car Wheels from passing over the same. The inner portion of the guard member is provided with a forwardly curved check wing 18, which serves to check any body which is in an extremely dangerous position upon the track rail, and which will tend toward deflecting the same outwardly so that the object will come in contact with the rearwardly extending outermost wing 17, and will thus be deflected outward to a point of safety. The inner'check wings 18 of the coacting guard mebers are connected by a suitable connecting member 13, constructed preferably as shown, with its forwardly inclined end portions 19 detachably secured by means of the bolt members 20 to the said wings 18 and having its body portion 21 extending parallel to the wheel 'axle 22. This connecting member 13 is constructed preferably of resilient metal and holds the guard members in spaced relation to the wheels so that the impact of an object with either of the guard members will cause the latter to be deflected slightly to the rear against the action of the spring-like connecting member. Then the springwill react to throw'the object from the track.

' It will be seen upon reference to the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingthat I have provided a guard which will be very eflici'ent in operation, which will be simple in construction and may be readily attached to any car truck.

What is claimed is:

1. A car wheel guard comprising a guard member adapted to be positioned in front of the car wheel and including a forwardly and inwardly inclined check wing, a rearwardly and outwardly inclined deflecting wing, and a forwardlyv projecting point formed at the lower edge thereof, and means for pivotally attaching the said member to the car truck for horizontal swinging movement.

2. A carwheel guard comprising a guard member adapted to be positioned in front of the car wheel and including a forwardly and a forwardly projecting point formed at the lower edge thereof, means for pivotally attaching the said member to the car truck for horizontal swinging movement, and means for normally maintaining the said member in its operative position. v 2

In testimony whereof I afiix my' signature in presence of two witnesses.

' WILLIAM F. WEST. 

